In the Search of Echoes
by SkywalkingOnTatooine
Summary: Ben Solo and Luke Skywalker search for the remnants of the long before gone Empire on Devaron. What are waiting for them is a mystery soon to be solved.


The burnt fleshes scattered around piece by piece, he watched the aftermath of the battle, his eyes scanning the area, looking for his friend. Was she alive? Or did she meet with the terrible fate aswell as her people? Scared, he moved away from the rock he was standing on. With every next step he felt like getting near the end...

* * *

 **PROLOGUE**   
**Farewell**

"I don't like this," Ben said, huffling, trying to convince his mother not to go with this suicidal plan. "At any rate, this is crazy." They were at the hall of the new senate building, bright white walls surrounding the both of them, walking their way to the hangar bay. Senator Organa, his mother, looked at his boy with proud eyes. He was almost a man now, 17 years of complicated life experience for her, but she was grateful for all he had done.

"Don't worry, Ben," She laughed. "You'll get the hang of it." She caressed his shoulder as a show of her trust towards him. She felt him shudder under her hand, almost as if he was... uncomfortable. Surely they saw each other less comparing to his childhood, for both of them had their own responsibilities, but she thought his son knew she loved him with all her heart.

Ben's eyes searched for a spark of understanding in his mother's brown eyes, believing him. He had been telling people that the tyrannic days of the Empire will come back evantually, that the evil government will attack soon but no one listened to his foolish speculations. His mother though, she was not fully convinced with the whole image the New Republic was drawing, promising peace to all the galaxy. They needed to be prepared for every kind of battle, she thought there had to be an armed military. She cared about the protection of the people, not just only about taking their planet over.

This was the reason she was sending him, with his uncle, to Devaron. Luke was not easy to convince for this, in his words, "Ben was not ready for a trial like this." If he had told that to Ben, he would probably take it the wrong way. So she tried to tell her brother that he needed to be there to understand the situation as well as Ben believed. That made him at least consider the idea, and finally today he agreed on doing so.

Ben stayed with his mother on her temporary chambers inside the senate building, and right now, this may be the last time she will ever see him for a long time. She shrugged, frightening at the idea of him being severely injured, or even worse... But his embrace on her shoulders, the only thing she felt was love. The love a son has towards his mother. The guilt of the things he had done to him, blaming her and the most important Republic, his father... Never being on the right place when he needed. He cried, he let himself go on the place he trusted most. His mother's hold.

"I..." Ben mumbled. "I hope to see you again, mother." He squeezed her under his strong arms, feeling her embrace for the last time before he went away. Leia smiled, a bitter one, but satisfied.

"Goodbye, my son."

* * *

 **CHAPTER ONE **  
**The Arrival on Devaron**

He followed the confident steps of his uncle in front of him, meanwhile carefully exchanging glances between the folk who lives here. He didn't even pay attention to his uncle's words a bit, apparently because he was chatting about the first time he went to Devaron.

"I was young like you, probably one or two years older maybe," Luke smiled. "Didn't even know how to swing a lightsaber. I came here, tracking all the information I can until I found those three training remotes. You know those I made you train with when you were like... five or six?"

"A-huh," Ben mumbled, pretending to be listening to him, while he was looking at the suspicious man following them a few steps away, his face facing down. Was he a he, anyway? The local covered its face with a dark robe, and it also had black visors above his head. "Go on."

His uncle stopped on their way all of a sudden, and Ben bumped onto his back, finding his body above the floor. He ruffled his hair to get the dust over his head, and put an annoyed face while his uncle was chuckling. "You weren't listening."

"I was..." Ben thought of the right word. "Observing my surroundings." He took the hand his uncle offered, and quickly got up. "Besides, it was not funny. And I don't even think it was proper for a Jedi to do that."

"Well, I'm no regular Jedi." Luke said. "Neither are you. So, tell me. What did you observe?" Ben leaned on the stone wall behind them, turned his head to face his uncle.

Eyeing the local, he noticed he stopped aswell, carefully not looking at their direction. "I think we are being watched. Or to say it more correctly, being followed." Luke didn't answer, but nodded and stroke his beard. He sensed that too.

"You see that back street?" Luke pointed at the narrow pathaway between two abandoned buildings, and that way seemed as forgotten as the old buildings. "We'll lure them in there, and find out what's going on."

They continued as if nothing happened, and Ben casually went near the street, turning his route, and tracking the local's movements behind them. He was following Luke and Ben, and Ben could easily feel the local thought he was being hidden, thus making Ben smile underneath. His uncle's steps smoothly turned to right, as did Ben's.

Just as they entered the narrow path, Ben turned to the stranger, nearing his lightsaber to their neck. "Who are you?!" Ben shouted at them, felt his uncle's hand above his shoulder as a warning. He wasn't going to do anything harmful to them, it was only to intimidate. When people were scared, they revealed most information. As the stranger didn't reply, Ben spitted one more time. "I demand to know your business!"

He felt them tremble next to the blue beam, and Luke stepped near. "That's enough," He said in a serious tone, while holding Ben's hand and bending it down. He put down the stranger's cloak and revealed the Devaronian. "It's just a little boy."

"I'm sorry," Ben said as he closed his lightsaber. "He must be very scared right now." He placed the lightsaber on his belt, then looked apologetically to the boy's face. It didn't help anyway, the boy just went to the older man's legs.

Luke bent down to meet the boy's eyes, and using his kindest voice - which was sincere and real - he spoke. "What were you trying to do? I don't assume you were after us to kill us."

"I shouldn't have done this," The boy finally spoke a few words, and stopped shaking. "Sha told me not to trust strangers." Ben snorted, like he trusted these strangers. The first Devaronian they met were stalking them, certainly not a very good first impression. He didn't want to be there anyway. If they reject their offer, he will be more than happy to return back home.

"Sha?" Luke asked. Probably their leader or something, but whose? "Can you take us to him? We'll try to convince him."

"That's why I got here," The boy replied. "And not him, her. I knew no matter how worse the things got to become, she would never ask for help to the outsiders." He embraced Luke's leg, and Luke was surprised at this movement. "Please, I'll take you to her."

Luke stood up, and smiled. "Lead the way."

They have been trekking the whole way up to one of Devaron's mountains, for... almost 2 hours? Ben was exhausted, and he could literally have preferred to be passed over a bantha right now.

"Are we there yet?" He asked with a lot of breathing noises. Breathable air seemed to be lowering down as they went higher.

However the boy seemed to have no trouble about it. "Almost there," He replied. "I thought you Jedi supposed to have more strength than the normal humans."

Ben was going to answer but Luke behaved quicker. "He's just being dramatic," his uncle laughed. "Come on Ben, you're better than this."

Ben mouthed a silent 'I am,' under his breath while he continued to climb. What would they do if this Sha disagreed to work with them? They'd better give them a transport to get back to the surface. Ben could bet that the Empire's interrogation techniques felt better than this.

"Wait," Ben said. What just the boy said to them? Did he call them 'Jedi'? "How do you know we're Jedi?"

The boy chuckled. "It wasn't hard to notice your lightsaber." He laughed again. "Especially when it was near my throat." What kind of maniac masochist was this boy?

"For your information," Ben said angrily, apparently he had to teach this brat a few things. "Not all lightsaber wielders are Jedi. I could be a Sith waiting for the right time to kill you."

The boy's smile faded. "You're no Sith," He said quickly. "I know what the Sith caused us to our land. I heard my mother and father talk about it before."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Ben said sadly. He understood he brought up an unpleasant subject. "I mean it." He looked up to see the boy's reaction, but he remained silent.

After a few more tiring minutes, they finally reached the top - or so Ben thought, for he saw another mile to reach that destination. Fortunately, the boy saved them from that burden. "This is where we're going." He said while pointing to the cave inside.

When they entered the cave, he realized the heavy smell around. 'Just great,' He mumbled, of course it didn't pass by his uncle. "If I knew you would be this weak I would have left you at the surface," He laughed. "You were the one who always wanted to go on missions, I know you're capable of doing these stuff. Cheer up a little, you'll get the hang of it."

'You'll get the hang of it.' His mother said that to him before he left, and as her image, her smile flashed back in his mind, he felt a little better. He felt his uncle's comforting hand on his arm, and they started walking inside. The boy was very ahead from them, waving them to hurry.

There was a weak light coming from the left corridor, but the boy was nowhere in sight in seconds. "Hey, wait!" Ben shouted, but his uncle pointed with his index finger, just to reveal the whole base inside where that light came from. "Wow." He whispered.

The little brat escaped from his catch again, huh? Well, they were alone at a gathering place where everyone was either a Devaron, or a prisoner. He would very much prefer having that brat next to him, at least that way these people wouldn't give them looks.

"Ah, there you are," Both Ben and a young Devaronian girl said these words at the same time, while taking the boy's one arm. The girl looked at Ben, examining his features, his hair - especially that Padawan braid, and her eyes paced over his lightsaber. She asked in suspicion. "Who are you, offworlder?"

"I'm Ben Solo," He felt a voice inside that told him to raise his arms in the air. "And I mean you no harm," He pointed at his uncle, who was waving his hands. "We are here to bring peace."

The girl huffled. "Taari brought you here, I presume," She smiled angrily. "You are not needed here. You can go back."

Ben was about to explode. They have been climbing up, starting from the bottom, all the way up in so many burdens, so many scars and this girl was showing him away? "What the he-" Luke's hand covered his mouth.

"As long as it was a very enjoyable trip out here," Luke started. "Your friend, Taari, I believe - he asked for our help and spoke about a Sha person. Can you take us to her?"

A woman in huge appearance, with a brown uniform on came near them. "I'm already here," She said, every eye turned to see Sha. "You better have a good reason being here."

* * *

 **[That was all for the first chapter, folks! I hope you like it, and I don't think I need to explain how much I loved writing this. I love writing Ben in his training years and Luke as a teacher, in my opinion they will be the best of their area. Anyways, don't forget to leave comments! I love you all!]**


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